These Are the Authors Flavorwire Staffers Irrationally Hate

Here at Flavorwire, we do our level best to engage in rational, reasoned, thoughtful criticism. But there are elements of our culture that are simply out of our analytical grasp: the films, music, authors, television shows, etc. that we hate with no reasonable explanation. Welcome to Irrational Hatred Week, in which your Flavorwire staffers share what we loathe in a variety of media, and do our best to figure out why. Today’s Irrational Hatred topic: authors.

Hunter S. Thompson

After careful thought, I’d like to amend what I said yesterday: I do hate Hunter S. Thompson, and I don’t think it’s my hate that’s irrational; rather, my attempts to try and talk myself out of the fact that I’m just not a fan of his work or his persona are what I find to be irrational.

Reflecting on what and when Thompson wrote, I can maybe muster a whiff of respect for his time with Hell’s Angels. I do think that Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 has its merits as a book that shows how strange and weird the American political system has been for decades, but other than that, I think the guy was a drug-addled jokester. I know more people who have tattoos of his book covers than people who have anything intelligent to say about his work. He routinely gets lumped in with the Mailers, Didions, Plimptons, and other New Journalism icons whose work I like way more, but I’ve had it with trying to talk myself into accepting Thompson as one of the greats. — Jason Diamond, Literary Editor